Today we’d like to introduce you to Jed Villejo.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I actually never thought i’d end up being a creative. I grew up here in North County where there was always so many different outlets to express yourself. You can play sports year round, hike, surf, go to so many different events there was no shortage of other things that I could be doing. While I grew up here in Oceanside, in a Filipino family, the mission and goal was always to do well in school, do well in extracurriculars, get into college and then eventually get into some sort of medical job. That’s what I was told and that was what I wanted. That was until I realized that I actually was pretty mediocre at school, sports became more about scholarships, and realizing I did love the medical field, I didn’t want to spend 8 more years learning about it.
So, as a second year CSUSM student, looking for new perspective I walked through the doors of North Coast Church and saw the amazing video production that they were able to produce with only a team of 3 people at the time. I wanted in and that was all there was to it, and luckily my lifelong creative buddy George Coletrain let me in, and has started me on almost 10 year career of creating videos and photos for a living.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think it’s honestly been relatively smooth. I had an amazing group of people around me to help learn the ropes and constantly inspire me. George Coletrain, Tanner Ross, Chandler Hilken, Bridget Brown and my now wife Jenny Turori-Villejo, were all there to grow with me, believe in me and teach me.
The biggest struggles were when I had to start growing without them as life took us in different directions, when I started freelancing on my own for the first time I realized how many hats you had to wear in order to be a successful business on your own. But even to this day I have a group of creatives I am able to bounce ideas off of, to lean on for advice and mentors that look out for me, and it’s always made the road a little easier.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I would say I specialize the most in lifestyle and branded work. It’s some of my favorite work to do. I have one major philosophy growing up here in San Diego and that is to “Make dope things with dope people”. Over the years i’ve worked with big brands but my heart is in working with local brands and helping elevate what their creative can look like. Some of the business that I’ve worked in the past have been Linksoul, Campfire Restaurant, Little Victory and one of my favorite places in North County, Goat Hill Park.
I think the thing that sets me apart is that I want to capture as real to the experience as possible and that I really want to work closely with the business to help really bring their visions to life. If you believe in me enough to work with me, I will fight as hard as I can to help your ideas come to life.
What’s next?
I really love what I do, so the only plans are to continue to maintain and grow as a creative. Maybe grow a rockstar team and create an infrastructure to give those upcoming creatives an opportunity to learn and grow like I did.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jedvillejo.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jedvillejo/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jedvillejo/
